Sometimes Stuff is Us

Many times we’re in situations and we’re looking for someone to blame.  “It’s that person’s fault or it’s this person’s fault,” we say.  Because, there is no way we are the ones who made the bad choice or didn’t do the right thing.   We look for excuses instead of looking at our own actions.  Let’s take a step back and evaluate this a little. 

I work with several managers and some of them have not learned that they are responsible for what they do and for those who report to them.  For example, if you lead people, you are responsible for them getting the work done or holding an employee accountable to getting it done.  You use all sorts of strategies to get the most out of the people who work for you.  You work to motivate them and gain buy in for the work.  But, if those don’t work, you have to give direct, specific instructions.  If they then still don’t do the appropriate work, you have to hold them accountable.  We all have someone to answer to and just like anything when you are working for someone else, they get to set the parameters.  

I sometimes get, “this didn’t get done because my employee didn’t do it” or “they just don’t want to work.”  My next question is so what are you doing about it……and then silence.  If the manager hasn’t taken any action, they are just as culpable as the employee who didn’t do it.  

My point is that we all have issues and we have to acknowledge them and not automatically judge or blame others.  There’s plenty of blame to throw around and we need to own our part in whatever it is.  It’s not just someone else.  The scripture speak to this as speaking ill about the speck in your brother’s eye, when you have a log in your own (Matt 7:3-5).  

Let’s work to be honest with ourselves and really do some self-reflection…..comparing ourselves to God’s standard – Jesus.  We will come up short….no doubt about that.  But, as we compare our lives to His, it should provide us a roadmap of where we need to pray more for God’s help in changing us.  It will also give us some practical actions we can take to be more like Jesus.  Don’t ever think you’re too far gone and you can’t possibly be forgiven for your sins.  Remember the thief on the cross beside Jesus, about to die.  He asked Jesus for forgiveness and just like that he was forgiven…..no questions asked.  He truly believed with his heart and confessed Jesus with his mouth and in an instant his dirty rags were exchanged for God’s righteousness through Jesus (Luke 23:40-43). 

God loves you so much, but you have to honest with yourself and with Him.  Sometimes we are the culprit in our own destruction and we have to own our part in it to be delivered.